Transfer of communication sessions between base stations in wireless networks

ABSTRACT

A method for carrying out a handover procedure, following which a mobile terminal (MS) currently in communication with a first base station (BS), will communicate via a second BS. The method includes upon initiating a handover procedure, determining that the MS will receive all future IP packets via the second base station, following this determination and prior to establishing a connection between the MS and the second BS, forwarding all IP packets being addressed to the MS to the second BS, and buffering the received IP packets thereat, and upon establishing a connection between the MS and the second BS, forwarding the IP packets that were buffered at the second BS to the MS, wherein the buffered IP packets are delivered to the MS before delivering any packets addressed thereto along a new path extending to the second BS which does not include the first BS.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to wireless communications and, inparticular, to improved ways of provisioning services in mobile IP basedwireless communications systems.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Mobile IP is a protocol designed to allow mobile units, e.g. thirdgeneration cellular phones, laptop computers, etc. to roam betweenvarious sub-networks at various locations, while still maintainingInternet and/or WAN connectivity. In order to further discuss this typeof operation, let us first explain some basic functional entitiesassociated with mobile IP networks.

A number of solution has been proposed in the past to enable smooth handover in cellular networks. Some of these solutions are described herein.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,741,577 discloses a method for inter-frequency handoverin wireless CDMA systems which tries to decrease the likelihood ofdropped calls by reducing bit error-rate while increasing the spreadingfactor.

U.S. Pat. No. RE 37,787 relates to a method in mobile radio systems inwhich the responsibility for transmitting message information to amobile station is handed over from a first base station transmitter to asecond base station transmitter, while the same radio channel is usedbefore and after the handover, and the transmission is started from thesecond base station transmitter before terminated from the first basestation transmitter, so that during a certain transmission time the samemessage information is transmitted to the mobile station from both thefirst and second base station transmitters.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,384,826 describes a cellular switching system in whichthe switching associated with a call originated within one cell but nowserviced within another cell is distributed among base stations whichare interconnected with each other through a local area network or apacket switch. The routing procedure associated with the point of originfor a given call is stored in the memory of a switch of public switchedtelephone network. As an active subscriber crosses a cell boundary, theswitch routes all packets of information for the given call to theoriginating base station for the duration of the call. Each base stationthen forwards each packet to the subscriber's current base station viathe local area network. In this manner, the architecture is unaffectedby the increased crossing between cell boundaries since the switchingassociated with those calls not within the range of the initial basestation is handled in a distributed manner by each base station via thelocal area network.

WO 05/006781 discloses a method and apparatus for facilitating basestation selection/handover by a user terminal in a distributed wirelesscommunication system. According to this disclosure, hysteresis isadaptively determined as a function of the variance of received signalstrength fluctuations. In turn, an adaptive hysteresis factor isobtained and used for a subsequent handover decision, for example, basedon a cost function that takes into account the hysteresis.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,728,540 describes handing over an ongoing communicationwith a mobile in a current cell of a wireless cellular system anothercell, using information regarding a set of potential handovercandidates. This information is transmitted from a base station in thecurrent cell or from another fixed part transmitter in the system. Theset of handover candidates for a given mobile in the current cell isdetermined based on stored adjacency information regarding the cellswhich are adjacent to the current cell. This adjacency information isstored after an initial system configuration, based on the actualphysical layout of the cells, and may be altered during system operationto reflect the success or failure of particular attempted handovers. Theset of potential handover candidates includes corresponding channelidentifying information such as frequency and time slot and thepotential handover candidate information is transmitted upon receipt ofa handover assistance request from the mobile.

The disclosure of the references mentioned herein throughout the presentspecification are hereby incorporated by reference.

Still none of the solutions suggested in the past provides an adequatesolution to the problem of hand over in a mobile packetized wirelessnetwork, and in particularly there are no solutions that enablepreservation of data flow integrity during such hand over.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method andapparatus to minimize data loss by when a mobile subscriber terminal ismoved from an area serviced by one base station, to an area serviced byanother base station.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method andapparatus to allow introducing temporary sequential numbering of IPDatagrams during a communication session held with a mobile subscriberterminal.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a methodand apparatus to preserve downlink and/or uplink data flow integrity.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide method andmeans for 802.16 MAC context synchronization between the target basestation and the serving base station during a hand over process in whicha communication held with a mobile subscriber terminal using the servingbase station is continued through the target base station.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent as the descriptionof the invention proceeds.

In accordance with a first embodiment of the invention, there isprovided in a wireless system comprising a plurality of base stations,at least one network gateway, at least one traffic agent and a mobilesubscriber terminal currently communicating with a first base stationout of a plurality of the base stations. The base stations are adaptedto bi-directionally communicate with a first network gateway (e.g.referred to sometimes as access network gateway), and that first networkgateway is adapted to convey IP traffic received from the mobilesubscriber terminal to the at least one traffic agent and to convey IPtraffic received along a packetized network towards said mobilesubscriber terminal. The method provided, allows continuing acommunication session that is currently carried by the mobile subscriberterminal through the first base station, through using a second basestation out of the plurality of base stations, and comprising:

during a communication session held with a mobile subscriber terminal,determining a first IP datagram out of a plurality of IP datagramsbelonging to said communication session that are received at the firstnetwork gateway, and carrying out a back up procedure for IP datagramsreceived at said first network gateway after that first IP datagram anddestined to the mobile subscriber terminal; and

upon establishing a connection between the mobile subscriber terminaland the second base station, the first base station would cease toconvey uplink traffic originated by the mobile subscriber terminal, theIP datagrams that were backed up during the back up step will beforwarded to the mobile subscriber terminal, and all IP datagramsdestined to the mobile subscriber terminal and received at the firstnetwork gateway after establishing the connection between the mobilesubscriber terminal and the second base station, will be forwarded tothe mobile subscriber terminal through the second base station.

The traffic agent referred to above (which should be understood toencompass any type of node that allows communication with the mobilesubscriber terminal, e.g. “peer node” or “corresponding node”) may beeither a home agent or a foreign agent, depending on the location atwhich the mobile subscriber terminal is located in respect of its ownhome mobile network. In case the traffic agent is a foreign agent, thewireless network shall preferably also comprise a home agent which willcommunicate through the foreign agent with the respective networkgateway.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the method furthercomprises providing an indication to the second base station as to whichwas the first backed up IP datagram.

Preferably this indication will be in a form of sequential number thatwill be associated with the backed up IP datagrams by the first networkgateway. Having such a local numbering of the backed up IP datagrams maysimplify the process of regenerating the IP datagrams which should havebeen received by the mobile subscriber terminal during the hand overprocess, after its connection with the second base station has beenestablished. Other indications could be for example notifying thesequence number of the packet that was used for conveying the IPdatagram through the packetized network, notifying the time stamp ofsuch a packet, etc.

As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, numbering ofdatagrams has been suggested by IEEE 802.16 MAC, and according to theproposal described therein, each Base Station divides each SDU(datagram) into blocks of equal size (except the last one, which mightbe smaller), and when a BS transmits data to a mobile terminal, thelatter acknowledges the reception of successfully delivered blocks. Onthe other hand, when a BS receives data from a mobile terminal it alsoacknowledges successfully received blocks. Still, the problem that hasnot been solved by the above solution is that each entity would assignthe block numbers independently. By a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention, the block numbering is synchronized in different basestations by introducing additional numbering of the SDUs at the networkgateway which is operative to anchor traffic for the mobile terminal.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the step of carryingout a back up procedure for IP datagrams received at said first networkgateway and destined to the mobile subscriber terminal comprisesreplicating and multicasting the backed up IP datagrams to the firstbase station as well as towards one or more other base stations.

Still preferably, the indication of the first IP datagram (e.g. itssequence number) is comprised in a response sent to a registrationrequest initiated by that other base station.

According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the step ofcarrying out a back up procedure for IP datagrams received at said firstnetwork gateway and destined to the mobile subscriber terminal comprisesstoring the backed up IP datagrams, and forwarding them to the secondbase station after the connection between the mobile subscriber terminaland the second base station has been established. Preferably, thestorage of the backed up IP datagrams will be carried at the firstnetwork gateway.

According to yet another embodiment of the invention, there is provideda method for carrying out an uninterrupted IP communication session witha mobile subscriber terminal through a traffic agent connected to an IPnetwork, wherein the IP communication session is established in an areaserviced by a first base station and continues while the mobilesubscriber terminal moves to an area serviced by a second base station,the method comprising:

at a first network gateway associated with the first base station,selecting a first IP datagram out of a plurality of IP datagramsaddressed to the mobile subscriber terminal, and carrying out a back upprocedure for IP datagrams received at the first network gateway whichproceeds that first IP datagram and destined to the mobile subscriberterminal; and

upon establishing a connection between the mobile subscriber terminaland another base station out of the one or more other base stations,determining that another base station to be the second base station forservicing the mobile subscriber terminal;

upon determining that another base station to be the second basestation:

-   -   refraining from conveying uplink traffic comprising IP datagrams        originated by the mobile subscriber terminal through the first        base station; and    -   forwarding the backed up IP datagrams destined to the mobile        subscriber terminal through the second base station; and    -   forwarding all downlink traffic comprising IP datagrams destined        to the mobile subscriber terminal only through the second base        station.

According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the IPcommunication session currently held in an area serviced by the secondbase station may continue uninterruptedly while the mobile subscriberterminal moves to an area serviced by a third base station (where thethird base station may be the first base station, if the mobilesubscriber terminal returns to that area), the method comprising:

determining a first IP datagram out of a plurality of IP datagramsbelonging to the communication session held through the second basestation which are received at the first network gateway, and carryingout a back up procedure for IP datagrams received at said first networkgateway after that first IP datagram and destined to the mobilesubscriber terminal;

in response to establishing a connection between the mobile subscriberterminal and another base station out of the one or more other basestations, determining that other base station to be the third basestation for servicing the mobile subscriber terminal;

upon determining the another base station to be the third base station:

the second base station would cease to convey uplink traffic originatedby the mobile subscriber terminal;

the IP datagrams that were backed up during the back up step will beforwarded to the mobile subscriber terminal; and

all IP datagrams destined to the mobile subscriber terminal and receivedat the first network gateway after establishing the connection betweenthe mobile subscriber terminal and the third base station, will beforwarded to the mobile subscriber terminal through the third basestation.

As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, there could be caseswhere the first and second base stations will not communicate throughthe same network gateway, in which case the first network gateway may beused as an anchor network gateway, and will be operative to conveycommunications to and from the mobile subscriber terminal through asecond network gateway.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, in a wireless systemcomprising a plurality of base stations, at least one network gateway,at least one traffic agent and a mobile subscriber terminal currentlycommunicating with a first base station out of said plurality of basestations communicating with a first network gateway and wherein saidfirst network gateway is adapted to convey IP traffic received from saidmobile subscriber terminal to the at least one traffic agent and toconvey IP traffic received along a packetized network towards the mobilesubscriber terminal, a method to enable hand over of a communicationsession that is currently carried by that mobile subscriber terminalthrough the first base station, by allowing the continuation of thecommunication session while using a second base station selected out ofthe plurality of base stations, and comprising:

transmitting 802.16 MAC synchronization information from the first basestation to the second base station, to enable synchronizing theoperation of both said base stations; and

after confirming that the operation of both base stations has beensynchronized, the first base station would cease to convey uplinktraffic originated by the mobile subscriber terminal and trafficdestined to the mobile subscriber terminal shall be forwarded to themobile subscriber terminal through the second base station.

As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the network gatewayin this embodiment is preferably operating merely as a pipe throughwhich communications are exchanged between the first base station andthe second base station.

Preferably, this method further comprising the steps of:

determining a first IP datagram out of a plurality of IP datagramsbelonging to the communication session that are received at the firstnetwork gateway, and carrying out a back up procedure for IP datagramsreceived at the at least one network gateway after that first IPdatagram and destined to the mobile subscriber terminal; and

upon establishing a connection between the mobile subscriber terminaland the second base station, the first base station would cease toconvey uplink traffic originated by the mobile subscriber terminal, theIP datagrams that were backed up during the back up step will beforwarded to the mobile subscriber terminal, and all IP datagramsdestined to the mobile subscriber terminal and received at the firstnetwork gateway after establishing the connection between the mobilesubscriber terminal and the second base station, will be forwarded tothe mobile subscriber terminal through the second base station.

By still another aspect of the invention there is provided a networkgateway adapted to operate in a mobile IP wireless network andcomprising:

an interface operative to allow communication between the networkgateway and a first plurality of base stations associated therewith;

an interface operative to allow communication between the networkgateway and a traffic agent connected to a packetized network;

at least one processor adapted to:

-   -   determine a first IP datagram out of a plurality of received IP        datagrams associated with a communication session held with a        mobile subscriber terminal through a first base station out of        said first plurality of base stations;    -   carry a back up procedure for the IP datagrams which follow that        first IP datagram and destined to the mobile subscriber        terminal; and    -   in response to receiving a notification that a connection has        been established between the mobile subscriber terminal and a        base station other than said first base station,        -   enable forwarding of the backed up IP datagrams to the            mobile subscriber terminal through the other base station;        -   enable forwarding of downlink traffic comprising IP            datagrams destined to the mobile subscriber terminal only            through the other base station; and        -   preventing from conveying uplink traffic comprising IP            datagrams originated by the mobile subscriber terminal,            through the first base station.

According to still another preferred embodiment of the invention, thenetwork gateway further comprising a storage means adapted to store thebacked up IP datagrams, and to allow their retrieval upon the receipt ofthe notification that the connection has been established between themobile subscriber terminal and the other base station.

In accordance with yet another preferred embodiment of the invention,the network gateway further comprising means adapted to replicate IPdatagrams that are addressed to a mobile subscriber terminal currentlycommunicating through a first base station, and prepare them formulticasting towards a plurality of base stations.

By yet another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided ananchor network gateway which sends data to/receives data from all theBSs involved in hand over process for a Mobile Subscriber Station(“MSS”). This gateway assigns sequence numbers to Service Data Units(“SDUs”), the datagrams. Once the MSS leaves the respective serving BS,the latter would deliver to the Target BS the information which allowssynchronizing the SDU Numbers assigned by the anchor network gateway andthe BSN numbers assigned in the MAC of each base station. In addition,the Target BS is being informed which BSNs have alreadytransmitted/received datagrams and which BSNs have already acknowledgedtheir receipt, a process which enables continuous numbering of the BSNsin the Target BS.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention,there is provided a base station adapted to operate in a mobile IPwireless network and comprising:

an interface operative to allow communication between at least one otherbase station and a at least one mobile subscriber terminal;

at least one processor adapted to:

forward 802.16 MAC synchronization information to the at least one otherbase station required for synchronizing the operation of both basestations;

receive confirmation that the operation of both base stations has beensynchronized;

cease to convey uplink traffic originated by the at least one mobilesubscriber terminal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1—presents a schematic illustration of a wireless mobile networkarchitecture;

FIGS. 2A to 2E—present a schematic illustration various steps of amethod conduct in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3—demonstrates an example of an HO procedure carried out inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 4—illustrates a GRE Tunneling frame in accordance with yet anotherembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A better understanding of the present invention is obtained when thefollowing non-limiting detailed description is considered in conjunctionwith the following drawings.

FIG. 1 presents a schematic functional illustration of the architectureof a typical mobile network 1 constructed in accordance with the WiMAXrecommendation. Mobile network 1 comprises a plurality of mobilesubscriber stations (MSS) 5 (only 1 is presented) that communicates withbase station (BS) 7 ₁ and is about to move to an area covered by BS 7 ₂.The various BSs communication with each other by using one more controlplane protocols that would allow internetworking between the basestations while ensuring fast and seamless handover between the BSs,referred to in FIG. 1 as R8. The BSs are operative to communicate withaccess services network gateways (ASN GWs), 9, which in turn communicatethrough home agent (HA) 11 and via the Internet to allow carrying outcommunications between MSS 5 with peer node 15, which resides behind anon-mobile part of the Internet, while moving between different BSs.

Preferably, the communication between a number of BSs 7 _(i's) and thecorresponding ASN GW 9 is carried by applying one or more control andbearer plane protocols for internetworking between the BS and ASN GW(designated as R6). Communications between the various ASN GWsthemselves is carried by control plane and bearer plane protocols thatcoordinate inter-ASN GW mobility (designated as R4). One of the optionsfor implementing R4 may be a modification of Mobile IP with GREencapsulation in which the GRE Key identifies an IEEE 802.16 ServiceFlow that belongs to the relevant MSS. The communication held betweenthe various ASN GWs and the applicable HA may preferably be carried byapplying control plane and bearer plane protocols for internetworkingbetween the ASN GW and HA, preferably Mobile IP (Version 4), designatedas R3.

Now, let us turn to FIG. 2A to 2E which illustrate an example ofcarrying out an embodiment according to the present invention. The datapath that is demonstrated in this example is designed to follow the MSSmovement to ensure that communication between the MSS and the Peer Node(i.e. the session the MSS is involved with) is not interrupted.

As demonstrated in FIG. 2A, MSS 25 communicates with peer node 35through serving base station SBS (27), serving access services networkgateway, SGW 29, HA 31 and via the Internet (not shown in this Fig.), ina way as described above. At a certain point of time, the MSS is aboutto leave the area covered by SBS 27, and a hand over process should beinitiated. The hand over process may be initiated as a result of any oneof a number reasons, for example, a mobile terminal may request handover because of degradation in the quality of service received, thenetwork may initiate HO for the same reason, etc.

Upon starting the hand over (HO) process, the Serving ASN GW multicaststhe downlink traffic to the entire set of the candidate Target BSs(“TBS”) 39 via the appropriate target access gateway (“TGW”) 37 inaddition to forwarding it to the Serving BS. This set of candidates maybe determined for example after receiving from the mobile terminalindications as to which are the other base stations that are “sensed” bythe mobile terminal. For the sake of simplicity only one TGW and one TBSare illustrated in this Fig. The Target BSs store the downlink traffic,preferably until the MSS would move to an area where it will be servedby another SBS. The uplink traffic is still communicated via Serving BS27 and SGW 29.

At a certain moment, MSS 25 leaves the coverage provided by Serving BS27 and as depicted in FIG. 2B, an IEEE 802.16 network re-entry protocolbegins with one of the candidate Target BSs 39. At about that moment(could be after successful competition of the re-entry protocol or atany appropriate moment before the full completion occurs, the uplinktraffic flow is not conveyed anymore by the former SBS while thedownlink target flow is forwarded only to the Target BS. When MSS 25completes network re-entry with the chosen target BS 39, this BS becomesthe MSS 25 serving BS and the ASN GW 37 with which this BS isassociated, becomes the Serving ASN GW. The previous Serving ASN GW nowbecomes the Anchor ASN GW. The uplink traffic flow resumes and isconveyed through the Serving BS, Serving ASN GW and Anchor ASN GW. TheDownlink traffic is conveyed in the opposite direction (and the AnchorASN GW ceases multicasting the downlink traffic to the rest of theprevious Candidate Target BSs). This situation is depicted in FIG. 2C.Then, traffic stays anchored to the Anchor ASN GW until a “convenientmoment” at which the traffic anchor is relocated to the current ServingASN GW and the traffic is conveyed again as shown in this FIG. 2C. Thepoint in time referred to above as a “convenient moment” wouldpreferably be upon release of intensive and/or QoS sensitive datacommunication sessions (e.g. VoIP), or at any other proper that will bedetermined by the user of the method of the invention.

Let us assume now that another HO process is initiated while the trafficassociated with MSS 25 is still anchored to that certain ASN GW 29. Theprocess described above is repeated mutates mutandis with the differencethat now the traffic is multicast from the Anchor ASN GW 29 as shown inFIG. 2D. Again, for the purpose of simplicity, only one Target BS isshown in this Fig.

During the network re-entry process, the steps described are repeatedand the traffic flow looks as it is demonstrated in FIG. 2E.

A somewhat more detailed example of the HO process is described herein.

The MSS initiates HO by sending MOB_MSHO_REQ to the Serving BS. Themessage that is proposed for use at this stage, its content and itsusage are defined in IEEE 802.16e.

Upon receiving MOB_MSHO_REQ, the Serving BS sends HO Requests to theentire set of the Target BSs involved in the HO. The message to be usedmay be any type of applicable message known in the art per se.

Upon receiving the HO Request, the Target BS instigates GRE tunnelestablishment with the Target ASN GW. This is achieved with sendingRegistration Request to the Target ASN GW.

After receiving the Registration Request, the Target ASN sendsRegistration Request to the Anchor ASN GW.

The Anchor ASN GW responds by sending a Registration Response. At thismoment, the Anchor ASN GW starts replicating and forwarding the downlinkdata destined to the MSS also to the Target BS (via the Target ASN GW),which has instigated registration. The SDU Sequence Number of the firstIP datagram forwarded to the Target BS (via the Target ASN GW) isincluded in the content of the Registration Response. An example of sucha tunneling message is shown in FIG. 4.

The Target ASN GW receives Registration Response and sends RegistrationResponse to the Target BS. According to the present invention, the SDUSequence Number sent by the Anchor GW should be forwarded to the TargetBS. Preferably, almost simultaneously, the Target ASN GW may startreceiving the downlink flow destined to the MSS under HO. The Target ASNGW forwards the data to the Target BS immediately after sendingRegistration Response.

Upon receiving Registration Response, the Target BS sends HO Response tothe Serving BS. The SDU Sequence Number sent by the Anchor ASN GW shouldbe forwarded to the Serving BS in the HO Response. This way the ServingBS learns which part of the downlink data flow is available in eachTarget BS. By an embodiment of the present invention, the Target BSstores the data destined to the MSS until the latter arrives. Thetraffic flows as it is shown in FIG. 2D.

After receiving HO Responses from the entire set of the Target BSsinvolved in the HO, the Serving BS tries to deliver to the MSS the SDUsthat have Sequence Numbers lower than those available in the Target BSs.After delivering these SDUs, the Serving BS enables the HO process bysending a MOB_BSHO_RSP message. For the latter message, one may use thatthe message defined in IEEE 802.16. Delivering data to the MSS maycontinue after sending MOB_BSHO_RSP.

Prior to leaving the Serving BS, the MSS sends MOB_HO_IND to the ServingBS, which is in fact the last message that the Serving BS would receivefrom the MSS.

Upon receiving MOB_HO_IND, the Serving BS sends HO Confirm to the TargetBS. Preferably, the Serving BS includes in the message MAC DataSynchronization IE that may be used to inform the Target BS what Blocksof what MAC PDUs have been delivered to the MSS.

Upon receiving MOB_HO_IND, the Serving BS instigates De-Registration bysending De-Registration Request to the Anchor ASN GW. Upon receiving theDe-Registration Request, the Anchor ASN GW would preferably cease tosend downlink data for the MSS under HO to the Serving BS (through theServing GW). The Anchor ASN GW would then respond by sending aDe-Registration Response. The Target Serving GW forwards theDe-Registration Response to the Serving BS, and the MSS completes thenetwork re-entry with the Target BS. The Target BS becomes now the newServing BS. Preferably, immediately after that step is taken, the MSSand BS should complete Uplink and Downlink Data SynchronizationProcedures over the Air Interface.

The Target BS sends Registration Acknowledgement message to the TargetASN GW, and u Upon receiving the Registration Acknowledgement message,the Target ASN GW sends Registration Acknowledge to the Anchor ASN GW.At this moment the Target ASN GW becomes the Serving ASN GW. It shouldbe noted that initially the Anchor GW might be collocated with ServingGW (e.g. the case shown in FIG. 2A), nevertheless, the proceduresdescribed above should still be valid.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a Fast BaseStation Switching (hereinafter “FBSS”) procedure is carried essentiallyaccording to the method described above, with the following changes:when the MSS requests adding a BS to the Active Set, the multicastingfrom the Anchor GW is carried in accordance with the above descriptionuntil the step where the Serving BS enables the HO process after havingdelivered the Service Data Units (“SDUs”) that have Sequence Numberslower than those available in the Target BS, to the MSS. Then, the MSSrequests Anchor BS to switch, and the MAC Data Synchronization IEs aredelivered to the new Anchor BS in a manner described above. Finally, thenew Anchor BS completes the Uplink and Downlink Data SynchronizationProcedures over the Air Interface.

By yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided theuse of SDU Sequence Numbers, e.g. when the ASN GW marks the IP Datagramssent in accordance with protocols R6 and R4 discussed above, with theirrespective Sequence Numbers. One example of how this idea can beimplemented, is, by using standard GRE Sequence Numbering option, inwhich case the SDUs are numbered separately per GRE Key (i.e. per IEEE802.16 Service Flow).

In addition, the following elements may be used while implementing thevarious embodiments of the present invention:

First Multicast SDU Sequence Number IE:

The IE may contain the following information:

-   -   1. GRE Key Value, identifying the IEEE 802.16 Service Flow that        belongs to the MSS under HO.    -   2. The Sequence Number of the first SDU associated with the        specified Service Flow and that has been forwarded to the Target        BS.        MAC data synchronization IE:

The IE may contain the following information:

-   -   1. Service Flow ID that belongs to the MSS under HO.    -   2. Connection ID (“CID”) associated with the Service Flow.    -   3. The Sequence Number of the first SDU that has not been fully        acknowledged.    -   4. Block Sequence Number (“BSN”), which corresponds to the start        of this SDU.    -   5. Map of acknowledged blocks with BSN higher than the BSN        pointing to the start of the first, not fully acknowledged, SDU.

It is to be understood that the above description only includes someembodiments of the invention and serves for its illustration. Numerousother ways of managing various points in the hand over process in mobilewireless telecommunication networks may be devised by a person skilledin the art without departing from the scope of the invention, and arethus encompassed by the present invention.

Also, although the present invention was described in particularly asrelated to WiMAX networks, networks in which the air interface is basedon IEEE 802.16, still the method and devices described herein may beapplicable to other cellular networks (mutates mutandis) and the presentinvention should be understood to encompass them as well.

1. In a wireless system comprising a plurality of base stations, atleast one network gateway, at least one traffic agent and a mobilesubscriber terminal currently communicating with a first base stationsout of said plurality of base stations communicating with a networkgateway and wherein said network gateway conveys Internet Protocol (IP)traffic along a packetized network towards said mobile subscriberterminal, a method to enable carrying out a handover procedure,following which said mobile subscriber terminal which is currently incommunication through said first base station will communicate through asecond base station out of said plurality of base stations, said methodcomprising: upon initiating a handover procedure, determining that themobile subscriber terminal will receive all future IP packets addressedthereto via said second base station; following the determination thatall of said future IP packets should be forwarded to said mobilesubscriber terminal via said second base station and prior toestablishing a connection between said mobile subscriber terminal andsaid second base station, forwarding all IP packets being addressed tosaid mobile subscriber terminal to the second base station, andbuffering the received IP packets thereat; upon establishing aconnection between said mobile subscriber terminal and said second basestation, forwarding the IP packets addressed to said mobile subscriberterminal that were forwarded to and buffered at the second base station,to said mobile subscriber terminal, wherein said buffered IP packets aredelivered to said mobile subscriber terminal before delivering anypackets addressed thereto along a new path extending between a networkgateway and the second base station which does not extend via the firstbase station.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein initiating a handoverprocedure comprises receiving a handover request acknowledgement at saidfirst base station or initiating transmission of a handover command inthe downlink.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one networkgateway being a Serving GW, is operative to send one or morede-registration responses along an old path extending to said first basestation, after which said Serving GW shall not send any further userdata packets along the old path.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein upondetecting by the second base station said de-registration response,initiating any necessary processing to maintain in sequence delivery ofuser data forwarded and user data received from the serving GW.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein at least some of the received IP packets thatare buffered at said second base station are also buffered at the firstbase station.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein at least some of thereceived IP packets that are buffered at said second base station arealso buffered at the at least one network gateway.
 7. The methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising a step of providing anindication to said second base station as to which was the firstbuffered IP packet.
 8. The method according to claim 7, wherein saidindication is in a form of sequential number associated with said firstbuffered IP packet.
 9. The method according to claim 8, wherein saidindication is comprised in a response sent to a registration requestinitiated by said second base station to said first network gateway.